Right, Wrong, and What Falls Between
by Aquarius Galuxy
Summary: What is, what was, what may have been. (Part 14: Neji gives Tenten vegetable seeds for Christmas. Tenten is stumped by it.) Vignettes, NejiTen.
1. The new canon (Part 1)

_How I think Naruto should end. ;)_

_Have a random drabble-product... Don't expect too much of it. This will be a collection of continuations/random ideas/drabbles/what have you that are not polished/edited very well. That said, I hope you enjoy this... And we can't have enough NejiTen, can we? ;) I was looking at NejiTen fanart and awwwww some of them are just so adorable!_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me._

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><p>The air is still when Naruto casts the jutsu that revives the dead from the war - Tenten is a little too groggy, a little too numb to think that this will really work; it's better not to hope, and risk falling - not when it concerns Neji, not when it seems like forever since he's left her behind.<p>

The survivors stagger to where they've piled their dead. Tenten trails behind, seeking out Lee first, and helping him with the heavy, unconscious weight of Gai.

"Do you think-" Lee begins, cautiously, and Tenten shakes her head.

"I don't know if I can bear to raise my hopes, Lee," she tells him tiredly, her footsteps dragging beneath the burden of carrying Gai. At least their sensei is still alive.

"But Naruto can do anything, can't he?" Lee asks. She exhales, purses her lips.

"There's only so much one can do," she responds, and looks at the broken ground, piled with rubble.

* * *

><p>Neji opens his eyes and blinks. Agony is sharp in his chest; he gasps his first breath in a long while, and remains lying still for a long time. There is a flurry of activity going on around him, and someone nearby shoves her head in his face.<p>

"This one's come back to life too!" she shouts, and people hurry over - medics, or what's left of them.

Neji feels himself being examined, the hole in his chest slowly being sealed, and wonders how long it's been since he took those stakes. Whether Lee and Gai and Tenten are still alive, if they managed to survive the war-

It suddenly occurs to him that, perhaps, Tenten might not have made it - what would he do without her levelheadedness and sanity and comforting touch-

He reminds himself to calm down, and to wait. They might still be alive, after all. He hopes Tenten won't try to kill him for leaving her. Dying once is enough for this lifetime.

* * *

><p>"Hey," Tenten's voice resounds behind him. Neji turns, and he sees the uncertainty in her eyes, the weariness.<p>

"I'm sorry," Neji tells her, and dips his chin. "I had to save Hinata-sama and Naruto - Naruto was the one who could save everyone else."

"I know," she sighs, and drags a grimy hand over her face. "I dreamed of you in the illusion we were put through." At his questioning look, she continues, "We were all cast under a spell and bound in cocoons - it was supposed to make us dream of our perfect world."

"I'm in your perfect world?" Neji questions, intrigued. Tenten flushes slightly, and looks away, waving her hands to dismiss the matter.

"Yeah, you were with me and Lee and Gai knew how to act like mature adults, for once." She gives a wry smile. Slants a look at their teammate and mentor. "I'm glad you're back, Neji. Maybe this is just another dream."

He catches her arm as she makes to turn away, and pulls her against him. "I'm sorry for leaving you behind."

"You did what you had to. I can't fault you for that." Tenten is still for a moment, though she relaxes into him after heartbeats. She is warm, soft. "Lee was sobbing over your dead body."

Neji glances at their teammate, and smiles lightly. Team Gai is still his family, after all. The medics are working on Gai now, slowly healing the severe burns on his body. "What about you?"

She shifts uncomfortably against him, her voice muffled by his shoulder. "I couldn't. We were in the middle of a war, Neji, I couldn't just- I figured that I could mourn over you if I survived."

"You'd mourn over me?" he asks, a faint smile tugging on his lips.

"Well, yeah." She pulls away slightly, to look at him in disbelief. "Did you think I wouldn't?"

"I don't know," he murmurs and shrugs, looking away, a light smirk tugging on his mouth.

Tenten catches sight of his amusement, and Neji doubles over when she punches him in the gut. "Don't you dare laugh at me like that, you jerk-"

"That hurt," he grits, wincing. "I just returned from the dead-"

Her eyes are wide with horror. "I'm sorry!" Tenten gasps, mollified. "I- I didn't mean to, I swear-"

Neji closes his eyes and draws deep, calming breaths, and finally looks at her when the pain has ebbed away. "Thanks," he says dryly, straightening. "I needed proof that you weren't an impostor."

Tenten gapes at him and fumbles for words, and Neji decides that he's had enough of all this skirting around and all the missed opportunities and the subtle flirting that never amounted to much even before the war began.

So he dips his head and catches her lips, effectively shutting her up, and somewhere in the distance, Lee whoops and shouts for joy.

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><p><em>Found the ending hilarious. ;)<em>

_Story/drabble suggestions, anyone? I will only write what inspires me, no promises. :P _


	2. Trapped in Eternity

_I wasn't going to update this until I posted the last part of Postcards... But I was inspired to write this particular drabble, and finished it in an hour, so here you go :P It's sappy stuff that you've probably seen in other NejiTen fics before, but I had to get it out of my system. :P There is a continuation to the first part... look out for that too._

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me._

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><p><em>when all the words you've left me with<br>don't seem to go away_

How many times can a heart break? Twelve hundred and thirty-three times, that's how many, because Tenten has watched this scene over and over and over and it never ends, not once. They appear in their different combinations, each one just as terrifying, because Neji dies in front of her, each and every time.

How many times can you regret not saying _I love you_, or _you mean everything to me_, or _I want to be part of you_ before the words are etched across your skin, dripping blood?

She's running in front of him, to intercept that one _kunai_, only for him to be struck from the back.

She's taking that stake for him, the third person that jumps in front of Naruto, but it slips through her as if she were invisible, and spears Neji instead.

She's pushing him away, from certain death, but the enemy avoids her, and is beside him in a split second, drawing a dagger across his throat-

How many times can you watch your teammate-friend-confidant-love die in front of you before you turn the blade upon yourself? Tenten doesn't know, because with each cycle, she's that much closer to driving the knife into her stomach, to escape from this agony-

_Don't do this, Tenten, I believe in you._

_Don't do this to me, Neji, I can't be strong anymore,_ she whispers to him, his ghost lingering by her ear, and the wheels of the sharingan spin, high in the sky, sealing her fate.

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><p>She collapses into white warmth, panting, sobbing, the sun too bright in her eyes, and all she whispers is his name, <em>Neji, Neji, don't leave me.<em>

Tenten doesn't believe when he says her name, doesn't believe when he pulls away and looks at her, really looks at her. _You're a ghost,_ she tells him. _Where am I?_

_I'm not a ghost, Tenten. You were in a genjutsu cast by Sasuke,_ Neji tells her, and she shakes her head, disbelieving, because he is going to die again - after a thousand times of Neji dying, he is going to again this time, she's certain of it, fearful of it-

Her fingers clutch at him and she's pressing her chest to his, protecting her heart, gasping. _You're going to die again_, she tells him breathlessly, _you've died a thousand times and you're going to leave me again-_

_Is that what you saw in the illusion,_ Neji murmurs in her ear, his tone low and soft, heartbreakingly gentle. Tenten stills, doesn't dare believe, doesn't know what to think. If she tells him this time, maybe she won't have so many regrets. Before he dies- Hurry, Tenten, there isn't much time-

_I need to tell you something,_ Tenten gasps, still clutching at him, still disbelieving.

_What is it?_ Neji strokes a steady hand over her back. There is no one around, just him and her. An eternity ago, there was Gai, and Lee, and Neji, and herself, against one Uchiha Sasuke. An eternity later, there is just Neji, and her, and she thinks this is just another cycle of agony in the never-ending torture-

_You mean everything to me,_ Tenten tells him, her eyes darting around, because there could be enemy _nin_ coming in anytime, to take him away from her.

But there isn't, and Neji pulls away from her, just slightly, resting his forehead against hers. His breath falls on her skin and his eyes are shadowed, pale lilac.

_I won't leave you,_ Neji says, softly, and hot tears are spilling from her eyes when his lips meet hers-

-And she's kissing him, her eyes wide open, because she needs to see him to believe that this could be real, that the palm he cradles her cheek with isn't a fragment of her imagination.

_What do you need to believe that this is real,_ Neji whispers against her lips a long time later. She shakes her head, doesn't know what she can trust- And before she knows it, Neji is pulling his _hitai-ate_ off, and unwinding the bandage around his forehead, just above the green seal. He presses it into her palm, closes her fingers around it. _This is real,_ he tells her, _remember this._

Neji taps a point on the back of her neck, and all Tenten knows after that is the serenity of unconsciousness.

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><p>Tenten awakens alone, much later, in the hospital. For a moment, her chest seizes - Neji is dead - and she can't breathe, can't think-<p>

Her fingers squeeze around soft fabric, and she slowly glances down at her fist. It takes forever for her fingers to relax, before a rumpled mess of bandages falls from her palm, and she remembers the brightness, Neji's eyes, and lips, and the green seal.

She sits upright in bed, heart thundering. The sensor next to her begins to beep.

_This is real,_ he's told her, _remember this._

_Neji,_ Tenten whispers, uncertain.

Two bundles of green burst into the room, shouting words of joy, and Tenten is glad for their presence, because they are family, but Neji-

He walks in then, eyes immediately seeking and locking onto her. Neji becomes a blurry mess of white, and Tenten scrunches her face up and wipes at her tears, because she needs to see him, damnit, and all this wetness is preventing that.

He stops by her bedside, disregarding the green beasts, and softly asks, so she can barely hear him, _I didn't leave you, did I?_

Tenten wraps her arms around him and presses her face into his midriff - having them all around her is heaven, and she can't ask for anything more than this.

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><p><em>Awww ;) not my best work, but yay for sappiness!<em>


	3. The new canon (Part II)

_This is a continuation of the first drabble-thing. ;) It gets a little sappy, but oh well :P I did also create a tumblr for more previews and stuff if you're interested - link is on my profile._

_The contents of Tenten's dream here are actually from what I wrote in Postcards. ;)_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me._

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><p>"What was that about?" Tenten breathes, when Neji pulls away from her, in the midst of all the rubble and remnants of war. She touches her lips tentatively, searches his eyes.<p>

Neji smiles at her, because she's returned the kiss (she kissed him back and parted her lips to his). "What do you want it to be?" he asks. They have all the time in the world now, because he's alive, she's alive, and Team Gai is back together again.

She seems to hesitate for a moment, blinking at him. "I don't know," she murmurs, and buries her face in his shoulder. "What are we allowed to have?"

"Right now, I don't really care," Neji tells her. "Coming back from the dead should give me special rights."

"Oh? Like what?" Tenten draws away and lifts her eyes to his. (Neji thinks he can't get enough of looking into her eyes.)

"Like getting a private room somewhere," he smirks at her, and turns away, leaving his suggestion hanging between them.

"Coming back from the dead has turned you into a pervert," Tenten mutters, just loudly enough for his ears. "What did they feed you on the other side? Aphrodisiacs?"

"Close enough," Neji answers, the corners of his lips quirked. Tenten is looking shrewdly at him, her lower lip caught between her teeth, and he is entertaining the thought of tasting her again when Lee approaches them with a bright grin.

"Welcome back, my eternal rival!" Lee exclaims, and pulls Neji into a tight hug. Neji looks at Tenten over Lee's shoulder, awkwardly patting Lee on the back. She grins, and steps in, sandwiching Lee between them as she hugs them both, and Neji takes the opportunity to steal a kiss behind Lee's back (literally).

"I'm glad you're all alive," she tells him and Lee, with a small smile.

When they've separated themselves from each other, the trio makes its way to Gai's side - Gai looks much better than before, raw wounds scabbed, his chest rising and falling lightly.

"We're proud of you, Gai-_sensei_," Tenten tells the sleeping man, and Lee bursts into fresh tears once more.

"He should recover within the next few days," the medic tells them, and leaves with a short bow.

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><p>Gai is still sleeping when they sit around him and begin to recall stories from the past, before the war, days when it was just them and Gai-<em>sensei<em>, and B-ranked missions and absurd training schedules and cries of youth.

They've set up camp for the night, together with the rest of the Konoha shinobi, and Neji is getting a little weary of all the people who have come up to him to tell him how glad they are that he's alive. (He knows it, doesn't need to be told a hundred times how fortunate he is.) Neji does thank Naruto, though, for all he's done, and Hiashi comes by to check on him, for the second time that day.

Tenten and Lee are busy in the temporary kitchen, helping dish out food to their compatriots - Neji is sitting by Gai and watching them when his uncle makes his presence known, with a light clearing of his throat.

"I see that you've been recovering, Neji," Hiashi begins, settling down beside him.

"My body is slowly healing," he acknowledges. (Tenten had forced him to get on her back, and piggybacked him for a significant distance, just as Lee did for Gai, because she didn't believe, for a moment, that he's already recovered from his stake injuries.)

Hiashi follows his gaze towards Lee and Tenten, and the pair sit in silence for minutes.

"I was informed of the capabilities she displayed during the war," Hiashi remarks at length. "Her proficiency with the _bashosen_ and strategic planning, among other things."

Neji nods, having heard about them from Tenten herself. (She still dreams longingly of the _bashosen_.) He figures that Hiashi has not just come by to discuss what Tenten did, however. "Your point, Hiashi-_sama_?"

Hiashi cracks a tiny smile at that. "You are ever-perceptive, Neji. I wondered if you had any plans with regards to her."

The pieces click instantly into place in his mind, and Neji grasps his uncle's point without missing a heartbeat. "You are suggesting marriage."

Hiashi nods, and continues to smile.

"Surely it's a little too soon to be discussing this," Neji points out. He's just returned from the dead, after all, and there isn't even an intact village to call home.

"It is never too late to set things in motion, however," Hiashi answers mildly, hands folded in his lap. Lee and Tenten are still as busy as ever, doling out food on makeshift plates, while the other active shinobi deliver sustenance to those who are still recovering. A handful of Naruto's clones are running around, and Neji wonders at his never-ending energy.

"Will there be objections to her lack of a clan name?" Neji finally asks. He's hasn't even really broached the subject of a relationship with Tenten yet. (She did return his kiss, though.)

"She's more than proven her worth during the war," Hiashi replies. "I have noticed your... interest in her."

Neji glances askance at his uncle, and tries not to flush. It figures that there were eyes watching when he kissed Tenten.

"I owe it to my brother - your father - to see that you have a say in your life, Neji," Hiashi tells him sagely.

"My eyes have been sealed," Neji comments. The finality of that hasn't quite sunken in yet, not when he hasn't required the use of his byakugan.

"I could arrange for someone in our clan to exchange eyes with you," Hiashi muses, and Neji looks quickly at him. "One of those who are not _shinobi_."

"I'll think about it," he answers quietly. It doesn't sit well with Neji to burden someone else with his eyes, when he is the one who has caused them to be this way.

"Neji, Hiashi-_san_," Tenten greets as she steps up to them, balancing four bowls on a makeshift tray. Lee tags along behind her. "Have you eaten, Hiashi-_san_? I meant this bowl for Gai-_sensei_, though it doesn't seem as though he's awake yet - I could always get one for him later..."

"I've already eaten, thank you," Hiashi tells her, and sends a meaningful look towards Neji, before rising to his feet. (Neji narrows his eyes - he doesn't need to be told what to do, damn it.) "The clan appears to require my presence - good evening, Neji, Tenten, Lee. I hope Gai recovers quickly."

Hiashi studies the unconscious Gai for a moment, and then departs, leaving Neji alone with his team. Tenten hands a warm bowl and makeshift spoon to him.

"Eat it while it's hot, Neji. What were you talking about?" Tenten settles beside him, with Lee on her other side.

Neji shrugs lightly and tucks into his food, staring after his uncle. "Clan matters."

He thinks Gai might be dreaming in his sleep, because there's a small grin on the older man's face that is missed by the other two. Neji turns and concentrates on his other teammates instead.

* * *

><p>They are lying side-by-side, beneath the cloudy sky, and a small fire crackles some distance away. The majority of the <em>shinobi <em>have fallen asleep, save for scattered groups of twos and threes, who sit around to keep watch, or just talk.

"What else did you dream of in that illusion?" Neji asks, quietly, beneath the snoring of Lee, who is sleeping on the other side of Gai. He slips his hand into hers, and smiles when she squeezes his fingers lightly.

"I, um..." Tenten trails off, and he watches as she looks away. Her cheeks are a little darker than before. "Well, in the dream, we spent some time together after Lee and Gai had the sense to leave us alone."

"How did we spend that time together?" he probes, curious. If the idea of them sharing private moments was her idea of a perfect world, then it couldn't be too bad a dream.

"We, um, got drunk and, um, did stuff," she stutters, completely avoiding his eyes. "Woke up in bed together... you know, things like that."

Neji feels a little indignant then. "And you accuse me of being a pervert?" he asks, lowly.

"I, um, well, that was a dream!" Tenten mutters. "I couldn't control it!"

"But you wished it enough that it would occur in your perfect world," he reasons, and smirks. It is enough of an excuse to press a little closer to her, to touch the curve of her throat. She inhales sharply. Glances at him from the corner of her eye. "What else happened?"

"Well... we got married. It was a winter wedding," she tells him quietly.

"It's almost winter," Neji observes.

She shifts uncomfortably next to him. "Um, it was just part of my dream, I swear, you wanted to know what I dreamed about-"

"Tenten."

She stops talking and looks at him then, the faint flicker of firelight dancing in her eyes. He rolls over onto his side, so that there is a mere inch between their faces.

"I deduce, from this conversation, that you don't have objections to being my wife," he begins. Wide eyes stare back at him. Tenten blinks quickly, and her lips move, but she says nothing.

"I- um, I don't have a family name," she admits finally, looking away. "I don't see how we'd-"

He tips her chin back towards him, and covers her mouth with his. Tenten stops talking then, melting against him, her lips sliding against his, warm and moist, parting in invitation.

They find themselves on the verge of tugging at their clothes some time later, and Neji pulls away from her, to restrain himself. "Hiashi-_sama_ came by to discuss that earlier," he tells her, and she goggles at him. "He was the one to suggest marriage."

"I, um," she stutters, and red floods her face. Neji thinks he likes this look on her.

"Well?" he asks, lifting his brows.

"Do you even have to ask?" Tenten finally grins, and cups the back of his neck with her fingers, pulling him close. "You know my answer, Neji."

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><p><em>Yes, this is how Naruto ends. I am disillusioned but that is okay because I have NejiTen ;)<em>


	4. That was just a spar!

_Written as a response to someone on Tumblr... there may or may not be a sequel to this :P _

_In other news... I realized that all my latest updates on the various fics (including Postcards!1!) had like an average of 110 readers... while it is nice that there are still people following NejiTen out there, it would be helpful to gauge reader response to these things (and sometimes that influences what I write/post). Sooooo, leave a comment if you have thoughts/suggestions? ;)_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me._

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><p>It is one of those nights in the village when a surprising number of the Konoha 11 guys are <em>not<em> on a mission. Naruto, as usual, has suggested a guys-only dinner, and Lee, fun-loving Lee, is among the first to agree to it. Neji grudgingly follows, if only to make sure that Lee doesn't consume any of that damn alcohol that could spell potential disaster.

Thus, it is to Neji's aggravation when the guys embark on their usual discussion of women; that mutt, Kiba, is all but drooling over Ino's lack of clothes, Naruto gushes about how pretty Sakura is (Neji isn't sure if he wants Naruto anywhere near his cousin), to which Lee declares his everlasting love for Sakura, and pronounces Naruto as his second eternal rival. Shikamaru slouches in his seat, chewing on his straw in boredom, and Choji is content to pull the plates of leftovers towards himself.

"Hey, hey, have you heard of that game," Kiba grins wolfishly, perking up. "_Bang, Marry, Kill?_"

Neji stiffens in his seat. He doesn't want anything to do with that. Next to him, Lee is all ears and gleaming teeth.

"What youthful game is that? I would like to learn it!" he exclaims, and Neji breathes a long-suffering sigh. It is a little too late to shut Lee up with a well-placed hit to the neck.

"Don't tell me you haven't heard of it, Fuzzy Brows," Naruto says, with bright eyes and a grin. He holds up three fingers. "Basically, you pick out three girls in the village - one you'd screw, one you'd marry, and one you'd kill."

Lee gasps in horror. "I have to choose someone to kill? And- And, Gai-_sensei_ said that you only share the passionate dance with someone you'd marry!"

"Well, it's just a game," Kiba grins, and Shikamaru grumbles beneath his breath. Neji hopes that they end the game before it gets to his turn, because he's really not going to answer that-

"So, who's going to start first?" Naruto looks around the table, skipping over the uninterested expressions of Neji, Shikamaru and Choji. "Well then, I think I should begin."

He jabs his thumb into his chest and the expression on his face turns sly quite suddenly. "The girl I want to marry... is Sakura-"

Lee howls at that.

"The girl I wanna bang... um... Hinata," Naruto continues, and both Neji and Kiba are glaring at him, spikes of murderous intent causing nearby patrons to look around worriedly.

"You will not speak of Hinata-_sama_ like that," Neji threatens, his Byakugan activating of its own accord. It is preposterous, that the man his cousin is head-over-heels for would think of her in such basal terms-

"Oi, don't insult my teammate like that, bonehead," Kiba growls, grabbing Naruto by the throat.

The blonde looks at them and gulps, realizing the danger he's in. "I, um, I think I'd rather bang Shizune instead," he stutters, and deflates in relief when the murderous intents subside. "And um, I'd kill Anko-_sensei_, I guess, she's scary."

"I guess I'm next," Kiba smirks, finally satisfied with Naruto's answers. "I'd bang Ino, of course, I mentioned that. As for who I'd marry... I think Tenten would be a good choice-"

That hot, murderous intent boiling deep in Neji's gut is back. It isn't jealousy, really, Neji tells himself.

"Um, well, actually, I rather like Hinata-" Kiba stutters, and Neji glares warningly at him, but says nothing, because at least Kiba has more honorable intentions towards his cousin than Naruto does. "And I would kill... Orochimaru's mom."

"She's probably already dead," Naruto grumbles, looking sourly at Kiba. "That's a cop-out, and you know it."

Lee is raising his arm in the air before Kiba has a chance to explain himself. "I'm next!" he exclaims, "I would like to marry Sakura-_san_! And, well, I guess if I marry her, I should do the passionate dance with her-"

There's a light flush on Lee's cheeks. Kiba and Naruto stare at him; Neji looks away, and weighs the different options to remove himself and Lee within the next two minutes. He is definitely not going to make a fool of himself, even if Tenten is the one he'd like to marry, and would secretly love to have in his bed- But there is no way Lee is going to hear about it, because he can't keep a secret for nuts, and-

"Hey, Neji, it's your turn," Naruto prods slyly, leaning forward in his seat. Neji blinks. Wasn't Lee going to come up with a third name? He glances at Lee for an explanation, and is faced with an expectant look; Neji realizes a little too late that his attention slipped between Lee's second answer and now, and he's run out of time to remove himself-

"I need to return to the Hyuuga compounds, it's getting late," he tells them, turning to leave.

"But Neji! You said you had all night!" Lee protests, with wide eyes.

Why is he even spending time with this idiot, again?

"You're just trying to run away from the game," Naruto teases, grinning so wide that his eyes have turned to slits. "Come on, we all know that you like Tenten-"

"I do not!" he snaps, "She's just my teammate-"

"Neji, you have feelings for our dear lotus?" Lee looks at him, inky eyes staring into his.

Neji shifts uncomfortably in his seat. It is one thing to lie by omission, but he has enough morals not to fill Lee with untruths-

"You should really tell her about it before someone else comes along and talks her up," Kiba suggests, fangs glinting in the low light.

"Were you trying to kiss her the other day?" Lee gasps, his face glowing with enlightenment. "When- When you pinned her down during our training and-"

"That was just a spar!" Neji grits, heat creeping up his neck. He had no idea that Lee saw - it would be bad if Lee told Tenten, because Tenten has no clue about this at all-

"But Neji-" Lee protests.

"You're just a coward who doesn't dare to admit his feelings," Naruto says in a sing-song voice, waggling his eyebrows knowingly. Neji feels the greatest sense of injustice, knows he's cornered-

"Lee, there's a squirrel under that table," Neji points, and Lee looks in that very direction, which just so happens to have a faint movement beneath a table. Lee bounds off with a delighted shout; Neji turns back, and fixes his comrades with a glare. "Yes, I will marry Tenten, I will bed Tenten, and I will kill every single one of you if she gets wind of this."

He sets enough cash down to cover his meal and Lee's, and stalks away, grabbing Lee by the scruff of his neck.

"My squirrel!" Lee sobs, straining against Neji's grasp.

"We're leaving, Lee," Neji mutters, still fighting his blush as they leave the establishment.

"Now you've got Choji and I into this mess," Shikamaru grumbles at the silent table and folds his arms. "How troublesome."

"Well, at least they left some food behind," Choji grins, stuffing his face with the last dumpling.

Naruto stares at the swinging door in awe, finally muttering, "Tenten should totally hear about this."

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><p><em>I wonder how Neji would react lol :P<em>


	5. Adventures on the 582

_And... yet another photography-themed piece. ;) This was inspired by my close friend Matt, and being jobless. ... I still have another 5 or so updates for this collection, and about 6 more chapters for f/2.8, ISO 100, and a 6-parter Digimon/Elf!Neji story... sounds like a lot to post omg. (Wondering if I should release them slowly, or do multiple updates a week, like what has been going on these few weeks...)_

_To all reviewers, thank you for your support! You know who you are. ;)_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me._

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><p>Tenten shoved her hands in her pockets and scowled. Today was a bad day, not in the least because she tripped over various things this morning, missed her bus and was late to work, her lunch showed up cold, her coffee spilled, and to make everything that much worse, she was unceremoniously fired over some stupid mistake.<p>

Now she was jobless, cold, and tired. And hungry.

She shuffled to the bus stop and scowled, settling heavily on the seat (which was clean - she made sure to check), sighing. There would be enough cash to tide her through the end of the month, though she needed a new job, quick. Tenten scrolled through webpages on her phone, and began putting her resume together all over again.

The bus was early today (maybe her luck was turning? That job she had wasn't that great, anyway), and for the first time that day, Tenten smiled. It was a double-decker bus, too, and especially empty, which lifted her spirits considerably.

She paid her bus fare, and climbed to the upper deck, because the view from there was better. And there weren't as many eyes around.

To her delight, the last few rows were unoccupied - she chose the back seat, intentionally.

Because, you see, Tenten had just the one dirty little secret: she was a bit of an exhibitionist, and getting pictures of oneself on public transportation was no mean feat.

She knew this route home by heart, and also knew that it wouldn't be long before the rush-hour crowd boarded a few stops down the line. Her heart raced; she sat herself in the corner seat as the bus began to move forward, and pulled her phone out.

It was common knowledge that the higher-quality phone pictures were obtained with the camera on the back of the phone, and not the secondary camera just above the screen. With this in mind, Tenten began to tug her pants off, and undo the lower buttons on her shirt.

The setting sun was shining brightly into the top deck - all the better for her pictures. She bit her lip in excitement, angling the main camera of her phone at herself, raising the phone high enough above her that she would be able to capture not just her bare thighs, but the bus seat as well (because what difference would it make, if no one could recognize the backdrop in her pictures?)

Tenten checked her pictures to make sure that they were in focus, and had all the parts she wanted, and then checked her location. The bus was pulling up to a bus stop - there were two other stops before the rush-hour crowd. From the window, she spied a few people boarding, and pulled her pants back over her thighs, just in case. It never hurt to play it safe.

A couple of people made it up to the top deck, one sitting close to the front of the bus, while the other took a seat two rows in front of her - probably a woman, with that long ebony hair. (Tenten preferred to keep her face away from people walking down the aisle, so they didn't take as much note of her - all the better to keep her operations undercover.)

She breathed a sigh of relief when the bus began moving again, because no one was likely to switch seats now.

Tenten eased her panties off, took a picture, and parted her shirt, to reveal her midsection and bra. It was getting warm in here, despite the lack of clothes, and she bit her smile down.

She tried parting her legs this time, for another picture, and lowered the phone a little, so the camera captured her chest and thighs-

And the camera flashed.

She cursed and froze, wondering how she'd accidentally hit that button on the screen (that was inconveniently facing away from her), and if anyone saw the rebounding light in the rest of the cabin.

The lady two rows away turned, and looked at her-

Except she was a man, with pale skin and the lightest eyes Tenten had ever seen.

He looked between her, and the screen on her phone, and there was an odd look on his face, before he turned away, facing forward again.

It wasn't until Tenten moved to shut the camera application off on her phone that she realized that he had probably seen the real-time image of her bare body, that she was trying to capture on her phone.

Oh gods.

Tenten nearly fainted then, and set her phone down, trying to calm her nerves. She pulled all her clothes back on, buttoned her shirt, and sank down low in the seat, to hide herself from the man two rows away. He didn't look back at her. Tenten was both excited and incredibly nervous - what if he was a rapist?

The bus stopped a couple more times, and the rush-hour crowd started filling the seats. She shrunk into her own seat, and tried looking out at the darkening scenery outside the window, to distract herself. At length, the man pressed the buzzer and stood up to leave, though not before looking once at her.

Tenten flicked her gaze towards him, and her sense of foreboding tripled when she noticed that he wore a light smirk on his lips. Surely it was impossible for anyone to have eyes that pale, to have such fine features - and he was in a suit, no less. She tore her eyes away, and slid further down in her seat, breathing a sigh of relief when he finally moved down the aisle, and the stairs.

Well, the good thing about people on buses was that one was unlikely to see them ever again, right?

* * *

><p>Tenten was dressed to the nines - she had an interview in an hour and was silently congratulating herself for nailing one this quickly; just a week after losing her job, really?<p>

She checked her appearance after alighting from the bus (incidentally, the same one she had been taking between work and home), and made her way to the grand office building that stood not too far away from the bus stop. Tenten identified herself at the security counter, and made her way up to the eighth floor, where the receptionist told her to fill in some paperwork, and wait until her interviewer was ready to see her.

That, she could do. So she sat and went over her prepared responses, confident that she could pull this off.

Ten minutes later, the receptionist addressed her, and led her past a large office, with plenty of cubicles, to a small meeting room tucked discreetly in a corner.

"Mr Hyuuga will be here soon," the receptionist told her, and left Tenten in the meeting room. She chose a seat and fidgeted, eyeing the glass walls, frosted to maintain privacy, and the whiteboard on the wall, and the smooth wood of the meeting table-

The door swung open, and Tenten was faced with the same man on the bus, the very one who had long ebony hair and pale eyes and fine features and-

She felt like fainting. Or packing up and walking right out, right then.

She didn't.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Tenten," he greeted, coming to stand by her, holding his hand out.

Tenten wasn't sure if her eyes were bugging out; her heart was beating too noisily in her chest, and she couldn't think, not when his eyes never left her for one moment, and he probably recognized her from the bus and all that was going through her mind was _Oh hell no_.

She scrambled to her feet and shook his hand, and her voice came out as a squeak when she greeted him in return, "The same goes to you, Mr Hyuuga."

No, she was not pleased at all to meet him.

"My name is Neji," he told her, genially, and Tenten couldn't fight the feeling that he was looking into her with those eyes and picking out details that she was scrambling to hide.

"So, I've read your resume..." he began, and Tenten slowly relaxed when the interview went as one should go, with all the right questions and answers and how he seemed to give no indication of having seen her before, much less know what she had been doing on that bus last week.

Neji even got her to smile, with a scattering of dry humor, and it seemed as though he might have entirely forgotten the incident (even if she was wearing her hair in twin buns on both days). She was a little sorry when the interview drew to a close, and he stood up to show her out.

"Have a good day, Tenten - Route 582 should be less crowded at this time of the day, shouldn't it?" he added in his smooth baritone, right as she was stepping out of the meeting room.

She froze, and slowly turned to face Neji, speechless.

There was a smirk on his lips, that wasn't there before, and she gulped. So he did remember. She suddenly felt very naked in front of him.

"I, um, thanks," she muttered, nodded at him, and hightailed it out of there, keenly aware of the heat of his gaze as it followed her all the way until the office doors closed behind her.

* * *

><p>Tenten did not hear back from Neji, or his company, and was very grateful for it - she eventually found another job, that was also on Route 582, and made very sure that she never took the bus that would reach his office at that particular time, when he got off from work.<p>

It wasn't just the incident with the photos - she had been fantasizing about him every night since then, with his low voice and smooth hands, and how he would cover her body with his-

She bit her lip, and looked out of the bus window. At least he never discovered the extent of his impact on her. (Which was just as well, because some of those fantasies included stripping on the bus in front of him.)

Her eyes slipped shut, and Tenten relaxed into her seat, squirming when the familiar heat pooled in her belly, and she thought about his hand on her thigh and his voice in her ear...

Someone sat down beside her, and Tenten ignored the extra presence, thinking about Neji breathing against her neck, his hand creeping up her leg-

"Didn't think I'd see you here," Neji said, beside her.

Tenten jumped. Literally. A foot into the air.

She slumped heavily back into her seat and whipped her head around, to stare at Neji. "Where did you come from?" she asked, very shaken, and still feeling very warm.

"The office?" he answered blandly, lifting a brow. "Where are you working now?"

"I, um, a few stops further back," she told him, "Electronics."

He nodded, and looked away from her. Tenten bit her lip, and turned in the opposite direction. She noticed, then, that there were other empty seats on the top deck, in front of her, and looked back at Neji. "You chose this seat on purpose?"

Neji glanced at her, and his gaze wandered down her front. Tenten swallowed, dryly. "Do you need a reason for everything?" he asked.

"Um, yes?" she answered, figuring that she really wasn't going to see him any more after today, anyway. He was warm beside her, and ate into her space, a little. She found that she didn't mind. Especially when the bus lurched, and his arm nudged into the side of her breast.

"My apologies," Neji muttered, making to move away from her.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Tenten hastened to say. "It's cold in here. Sharing heat is good, you know?"

What the hell was she telling a mere acquaintance? Tenten didn't know, only knew that she was more than a little affected when he looked at her, his eyes (they were lilac, she realized, not white) darker than before.

"Do you need more heat?" he murmured softly, so only she could hear him, though it wasn't a big deal, anyway, because there weren't many passengers on the upper deck yet (she'd chosen the back seat again, by habit, and was quietly glad that she had, because Neji was looking intently at her, and she could smell the cologne off him, the attention that he was fully giving her).

"What kind of heat?" she whispered, hardly remembering to breathe. Neji was leaning closer to her, his fingers brushing her bare thigh, up to her skirt, and beneath its hem.

"This heat," he replied, just as quietly, next to her ear, his warm breath feathering over her skin, and Tenten couldn't move when he dragged his nose against her cheek, and his hand slipped between her legs, finding where she'd grown tellingly wet. Neji's eyes snapped to hers, and she met them briefly, knowing he_knew_, and glanced away, embarrassed.

"I- I suppose," she answered, and gasped when he nudged her flesh through that thin fabric, and slipped his fingers into her underwear.

"I would like you to undress for me sometime," he told her quietly, fingers following the seam of her flesh, and Tenten shivered, parted her legs for him. Pleasure coursed through her nerves, and she bit down a moan, desire growing twofold when it dawned on her that Neji was interested in her, that he wanted more than this-

He nudged her sensitive flesh with a finger, and sent another further down, dipping into her, and it was all she could do to stop herself from crying out when he moved in her, slowly, his fingers wet with her moisture.

Neji took her earlobe into her mouth, and Tenten stopped thinking, could only feel, when he pushed her closer and closer to the edge with his nimble fingers- And pleasure exploded within her when he drew his nail across her swollen flesh.

He covered her mouth with his when she arched and tensed, swallowing her moan, and it was long moments before the ringing in her ears stopped, and she regained her senses, and ability to think.

Neji was wiping his fingers off on a handkerchief when she looked at him. Didn't know what to say. He smirked at her, and tucked the slip of cloth back into his pocket.

"I'll see you around," he told her, and pressed the buzzer, leaving Tenten to straighten her clothes dazedly as he made his way down the aisle, as if nothing had happened at all. Neji was gone before she knew it, and Tenten pulled her phone out, scanning the rest of the bus to see if anyone was looking her way. Somehow, they'd caught the attention of no one.

Her phone buzzed suddenly, and Tenten swiped at it, to display the message she'd received.

_I enjoyed meeting you on the 582. Hope to see you again soon. - Neji_

Tenten blushed then, and shivered in anticipation. Where was this going to go?

* * *

><p><em>... ;) And no, this is probably not going to be continued.<em>


	6. Obon

_Just a little something for Halloween! (I didn't write it with Halloween in mind, but it just occurred to me that this is the right day to post it.) In other news, I just wrote the prologue of my baby, Complexities of Blackmail. ;)_

_Featuring TheLast!Tenten (because I want to see this scene but no one is writing/drawing it) - inspired off a quote from Tumblr._

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me._

* * *

><p><strong>Obon<strong>

"Hey Neji," she says, more to herself, than him. "I know it's been a while, and I'm sorry I haven't been talking to you - but it's just been so busy here lately, you know?"

Tenten twists her braids into buns, and ties the trailing ends together, so they fall against the nape of her neck. "I mean, the village is almost completely back to normal - there's Ichiraku's _ramen_ stand, and the Hokage's office, and the training grounds and Forest of Death are all back. Just like the old days."

She pauses here, to step into her dress (it is an orange-red _qipao_ with gold swirls on the sides), tugging the zipper up her back. Neji would have liked this dress, she thinks. "Wouldn't you, Neji?"

It is easier - so much easier - to imagine that he's always around her, wherever she goes, because thinking of Neji's spirit perpetually beside her is better than thinking about how she'll never really see him in the flesh again. It still hurts, but she knows he's watching, that he's around when Lee and Gai are on the verge of making her pull her hair out, that he's smirking when they make her lose her cool and she pins them to the wall with a barrage of pointy weapons.

"I'll bet you find it funny to watch me suffer with those idiots," she mutters, grouchily. And all the same, Gai and Lee are her closest family left, and she doesn't mind them as much as she acts like she does.

"These scrolls are pretty cool, huh?" Tenten slips her hands into her miniature wrist scrolls - so much lighter than the huge one she carried in the past, and checks to make sure that they're the right ones for today. "Not like you'd try to steal them off me again, but I'm better prepared now."

Tenten pauses here to remember the incident, in which Neji - mellowed, mature Neji - actually hid her scrolls for an hour while they were returning from a mission. "Damn you, pulling pranks on me like that-"

"It's not like you didn't pull pranks on me yourself."

She spins around at the low, smooth voice, her heart leaping to her throat. "Neji?"

And he's sitting on the edge of her bed, in his traditional Hyuuga robes, looking almost solid, but not quite. Tenten swallows.

"It's _Obon_ today, or have you forgotten?" He smirks, and gets to his feet, walking towards her.

She smiles weakly at him, fondly, watching as he stops in front of her, touching his fingertips to her hair. "Yeah, I guess I did forget."

Neji has made appearances during _Obon_ in previous years, too - it is the festival of the returning spirits, and the one day she gets to see Neji again.

"I'm disappointed that you forgot about me," he says, with a light pout, and Tenten blushes.

"Look, I'm sorry! I was helping Hinata with her wedding and Sakura needed my weapons for something and Ino said she needed more flowers-"

He rests his fingertips at the bottom of her chin, a cool, tingling sensation, and Tenten falls silent, suddenly breathless. His eyes are still pale, and his forehead is smooth and unmarked. "Has there been... anyone else?"

She can tell that the question is a difficult one for him to ask, from the way his jaw tightens just a little (it's bittersweet how she still remembers so much about him). Tenten folds her arms, and smiles. "No one. You'd know that, Neji, if you've been hanging around."

He returns her smile then. "I get summoned to run errands sometimes," Neji admits. "Mother wanted some lilies the other day."

"What's it like in heaven?" she asks, curious, reaching up to touch his face. Neji isn't quite solid; her fingers will push through his ethereal features if she exerts just the slightest bit of pressure.

"Boring." Neji withdraws his hand, instead sliding it along the back of her neck. Tenten shivers. "It's quiet, hardly the same as with Gai and Lee around."

"You miss them," Tenten teases, and Neji frowns.

"I do not." But the quirk at the corner of his lips betrays his sentiments, and she grins in response.

"You missed me though," she suggests, and Neji does not deny it. "I got a new outfit."

"So I see." His gaze coasts over her, and Tenten shivers, because she feels the heat in his eyes, cool as he is to the touch. "It looks good on you."

"Are you flirting with me, Neji?" Tenten grins, mischievously, and steps back, twirling around to show him her dress.

"And if I am?" He smirks again, still looking at her, still with that hint of desire in his eyes.

She doesn't wait for him to make the first move; Tenten closes the distance between them and gently presses her lips to his, a tingling sensation on her skin.

He's looking at her when she pulls away with a tiny smile. Tenten raises her eyebrows. "Well?"

"Someday, I'd like to give you my family name," Neji says, quietly, and the weight of his words makes her chest ache. "Whenever the time comes for you to join me."

"You make death sound romantic," she replies, a light blush on her cheeks. It's the first time he's ever mentioned this, and Tenten is glad for it, glad to know for sure what she means to him.

He smirks, but does not reply, merely lifting his fingers to brush her jaw. Tenten is content to stand in silence with him for a while, to look at his features all over again, because he is around her most of the time, but she only gets this one chance to refresh her memory of his ghostly image every year.

"I wish I had more time to spend with you tonight," she murmurs, wistfully. "I'm leaving for a mission in an hour."

He looks over her clothes again, and back at her. "Is there anything to prevent me from following?"

"Don't you have to visit your uncle and cousins too?" Tenten probes, her spirits lifting. She can't help the grin that curves her lips.

"They can wait," Neji mentions offhandedly, dipping his head to capture her lips. "They know I'm here, anyway."

Tenten smiles, and returns his kiss.

* * *

><p><em>Yeah you know, this can be your Newer canon if you don't want to believe the other after-manga drabbles I posted. ;)<em>


	7. Obon: The Beginning

_I'm actually fine with the way the series ended. Seems to me that Tenten stayed unmarried because of Neji - and that is a far better fate than having her pop random kids lol._

_Anyway, this is what came before "Obon" - special thanks to _white noise and brine _for inspiring some ideas in here. ;)_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me._

* * *

><p><strong>Obon: The Beginning<strong>

She sees him the first time _Obon_ comes around after the war.

There are no tears left to shed; Tenten is nervous when she wakes up on the day of the _Obon_ festival, because everyone says that spirits return today, and she doesn't know if she'll be able to handle it if it isn't true, if she anticipates Neji's appearance and he doesn't show up.

So Tenten stays around in bed and doesn't drag herself out until her head begins to ache; she keeps her eyes shut and feels her way towards the bathroom, bumping into chairs and tables and the wall in between. Breakfast is a little more difficult - she squeezes her eyelids together and boils eggs, listening for the low rumble of water in the pot.

It's not easy to pass time when one's eyes are closed.

Tenten pours a little too much soy sauce on her eggs, and adds salt to her coffee instead of sugar. She winces, throws the coffee out. At least there isn't a mission today, she thinks, as she prepares another dose of caffeine.

"I'm not expecting you here," she tells the empty apartment. "I am perfectly fine minding my own business and this is an experiment to see how long I can keep my eyes closed for."

The hard-boiled egg is warm and savory on her tongue. She chews, and imagines Neji sitting across the table from her, watching her eat. It helps to imagine that he's always beside her, even if that's not actually the case.

"I don't miss you," she continues, and the yolk tastes like cardboard on her tongue. Tenten gives a dry laugh. "Who am I kidding?"

"You could've fooled me," says a voice from across the table, familiar and deep and mellow, like the crash of waves on a beach.

Her eyes fly open. The egg slips from her hand and bounces off the floor, and Tenten pushes herself backwards in her seat too quickly, so the chair tips and she lands noisily in a crumpled heap, bumping her shoulder and arm. "Ow. Neji?"

And he is beside her all at once, crouched over her, a frown on his silvery face.

Tenten doesn't quite believe her eyes. It is as if Neji has returned in the flesh, except that she can see the walls and ceiling through him. "Are-" Her voice doesn't quite come out right. "Are you real?"

A slender eyebrow lifts. "Does it look like I'm not?"

"Well, I can see through you," Tenten replies, blinking quickly. He doesn't disappear. It feels a little numb in her chest, after trying so hard not to think about him for so long. "How did you get here?"

Of course, he doesn't know what she feels for him, so Tenten doesn't hug him - she lifts a hand to his arm, gingerly prodding at his shirt. It feels as if she's dipping her fingertips into cool water, and his form does not offer any physical resistance to her touch.

"I descended from heaven," is his simple reply. His pale eyes have not left her; his forehead is smooth and unmarked.

"I- I see." Tenten gets to her feet slowly, brushing herself off. The realization that Neji is actually here hits her slowly, like taking a Dynamic Entry kick to her chest, except over a much longer period of time. "Have you visited your family?"

"Not yet," Neji answers, and Tenten blinks stupidly at him.

"Why not?"

Neji shrugs, looks away. "I thought I'd come see you first."

"Oh." Tenten fiddles with the hem of her shirt, and realizes that she hasn't got pants on. Heat prickles on her cheeks. She wasn't expecting Neji to show up this early, after all. "Um, let me get some clothes on," she stutters, hurrying towards her bedroom.

Neji is watching her amusedly when she returns. Before she can ask why, he explains, "I've been spending time around you even before today - your previous state of undress is a common occurrence to me."

"_What?_" Tenten gapes at him, and flushes harder. It's one thing to imagine Neji around her, but having him see her undressed, as well? "Why didn't you tell- I mean, weren't you always going on about honor?"

"I always look away," he tells her, offended.

The heat doesn't subside from her cheeks. "I'll trust you on that," she mutters. Despite that, there is so much to tell him, and Tenten wonders if he'll stay long enough for them to really talk. "When are you leaving?"

"Midnight. Are you going anywhere today?" Neji looks towards her door, and Tenten shakes her head. "I'll visit Hiashi-_sama_ and Hinata-_sama_ first, and return here right after."

Tenten smiles, and doesn't stop smiling even after he leaves. It is a relief to be able to see Neji again, even if she can't hold his hand, or do any of the things she's secretly dreamed of sharing with him.

* * *

><p>Neji returns an hour later, and Tenten is content to sit cross-legged on the couch with him, shoulder-to-shoulder, talking about the restoration of the village, and their friends, and what they've been doing since the war ended.<p>

It only occurs to her to ask, close to midnight, "Why do you spend so much time around me?"

Neji blinks, and looks steadily at her. "Should I not?"

She tenses and waves her arms at him, awkwardly. "No! No, that's not what I meant!"

"What did you mean, then?" Neji's gaze falls to her lips, and she wets them with her tongue, self-conscious.

"Well, um, I meant, don't you have others to spend time with? Like Hinata and your uncle?" Tenten explains lamely.

Neji shrugs, glances away. "I feel most comfortable around you."

A blush rises to her cheeks then, and Tenten looks in the other direction. "I- I see."

"I should be going," Neji says eventually, breaking the silence. There are a couple of minutes left to midnight. "Take care of yourself. I won't be able to watch your back."

"I'll miss seeing you around," Tenten responds, giving him a wan smile. The thought of him leaving makes her chest ache. Neji stands, and she follows suit, wrapping her arms gingerly around his shoulder. It feels a little strange seeing her arms through his body.

Neji brushes his cheek against hers, sending tingles across her skin, and then he's pulling away, putting distance between them. "I'll see you next year, Tenten."

Her smile is shaky this time. It isn't as if he's leaving her forever, though - she'll just be unable to see him for a year. "See you around, Neji."

He fades away then, and Tenten sinks back into the couch, wrapping her arms around her knees. There aren't any words to explain what she feels for him, so she doesn't try, doesn't bring it up at all, lest he gets put off by her emotions.

But it has been a good day, just being able to talk to Neji again, and Tenten smiles, inhaling deeply.

He's back in front of her a few minutes later, wearing a frown.

"What's wrong?" Tenten asks, looking up at him in surprise. "Shouldn't you be back in heaven by now?"

"I couldn't find the entrance back in," Neji tells her, his forehead furrowed. "I tried looking everywhere - it appears as if I'm locked out."

"Are they going to punish you for it?" Tenten winces. Surely heaven has rules about things like _Obon_.

"Possibly." Neji folds his arms and sits back on the couch. "I'll try again in the morning."

And that is how Neji comes to spend the week after their first _Obon_ in Tenten's apartment.

* * *

><p>On any other day before his death, Tenten would've been over the moon to have Neji stay over at her apartment for seven days straight.<p>

Today, however, he's starting to get on her nerves a little, because she can only stand to have Neji sleeping in her home and accidentally walking into the bathroom while she's showering (she forgets to close the door sometimes, and he turns on his heel and glides right out) so many times before she snaps.

It hurts to see him so close and not be able to let him know how she feels; she's regretted not telling him before the war, but now, after all the wishes and regrets, Tenten finds herself hesitating all over again - will Neji stop visiting if he knows what he means to her?

She wishes he wasn't around so much, so she can return to silently brooding upon her feelings for him, and she tells him just that, when she rounds the doorway into the kitchen and runs headfirst into his chest - and straight through him.

It's like stepping through a bucket of ice. Tenten whirls around and snarls, "Why can't you just return to heaven like all the other ghosts have?"

The apartment is painfully silent for a long time.

Neji turns slowly, to look at her, and the look on his face is unreadable. She regrets her words almost immediately, wants to claw them back, but her throat has sealed itself shut, and she can't breathe.

"I'll leave if that's what you wish," Neji says quietly, and Tenten screams for her lips to form words; her body has turned to stone.

_I'm sorry,_ she wants to shout, but the words are stuck somewhere between her mind and her mouth, and Neji's lips thin. He lowers his gaze, turns, walking out of her apartment.

She refrains from running after him; it is long minutes later before Tenten can even move, and her list of regrets is now ten times as long as it was before.

If he manages to find his way back to heaven tonight, she won't see him again for another year, and it hurts to think that Neji might not return to visit the next time _Obon_ rolls around.

Fear is an icy grip around her throat. Tenten dashes out of her apartment, looks frantically around for any sign of a pale shimmer, but there is none. She calls his name, twice - there is no response. There isn't any time to waste; she tears down the street, shouting his name, even if she looks like a complete idiot searching for someone long dead.

There isn't a ghost to be seen in their usual haunts, not the training grounds, or the forest, or the restaurants or the village square. Running out of options, now, Tenten makes her way reluctantly to the Hyuuga compounds, and Neji isn't there, either.

"Neji!" she calls, futilely. "I'm sorry, Neji, don't go away!"

The main gates swing open, and Hinata stands on their threshold, looking worriedly at her. "Tenten-_san_, you- you know that Neji-_nii_ is... dead, right?"

She feels her face crumple. "I- He- he's gone," she says brokenly, and the concern in Hinata's expression grows.

"_Obon_ was a week ago," Hinata informs her hesitantly. "Would you like to come in for some tea?"

"I-" The words die in Tenten's throat, and she shakes her head, turning away before Hinata sees the moisture in her eyes.

She stumbles back to her apartment somehow, through the haze of tears, and it is only after Tenten closes the door behind her and sinks against it that she lets herself sob, uglily, shoulders shaking.

Tenten cries until all her energy is gone, before she tilts her head back, wiping at her eyes and surveying her living room.

Neji is seated on her couch, watching her solemnly.

She snuffles in surprise, her body going instantly still. Had he seen all of that? Tenten gulps, flattens herself against the door when Neji gets to his feet, walking over to stop right before her. Damn it.

"I, um," she mumbles, not daring to look at him.

He raises a hand to her face, touching her chin with a cool fingertip, and the sensation is such a shock to her system that she looks up at him. His pale gaze ensnares her, renders her body motionless.

"Why were you crying?" he asks.

"I- Well, you left," she tells him hoarsely, swallowing.

"Is that enough to trigger such a reaction?" Neji lifts his eyebrows.

Tenten tears her eyes away then. "I didn't know if you were going to come back. I'm sorry - I spoke without thinking."

"I'll always return," Neji whispers. "You're the only one I want to return to."

Her gaze snaps back to him in astonishment - she thinks her heart might have stopped - and Neji leans in, brushing cool lips against hers.

Like a train collision, her thoughts crash and twist together into a grinding, squealing mess, and Tenten can't think, not when Neji tilts his face, and his lips cover her mouth. He pulls away after a while, with a slight crease on his forehead; she grabs the chance to move her lips.

"What does that mean?" she croaks.

Neji quirks an eyebrow. "What does that look like it means?"

"I-" Her mind begins to function then, and her cheeks are engulfed with heat when she realizes that Neji may actually feel the same way towards her. "You feel- you know how I feel."

He raises a palm, rests it right over her heart, and a chilly tingle washes over her skin. "Perhaps we should stop avoiding the truth."

Tenten blinks in surprise. "You've been doing the same?"

Neji gives a wry smile then.

"We should stop creating more regrets," he tells her, and falls silent, awaiting her response.

Tenten returns his grin then, finally, and covers his hand with hers. "Yeah, we should."

He leans in to kiss her again, and this time, Tenten opens herself to him.

* * *

><p><em>Yay for sappiness! Is the Neji-puppet rumor true? 'cause then Tenten can totally meet him in the movie and they can share more sappy moments lol<em>


	8. Girls and Toys Night

_Lots of people posting NejiTen these few days! Keep it up, everyone! ;)_

_This was inspired by my close friend Matt... lol. _

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me._

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><p><strong>Girls and Toys Night<strong>

"Ladies and... ladies, welcome to Girls and Toys Night!" Tenten announces cheerfully, looking around at the small group gathered in front of her. They're at Ino's apartment tonight, and Tenten has spread her scroll out in front of them, ready to demonstrate the various toys she has available for sale.

"Is that your version of toys, or our version?" Ino asks dubiously (it is well-known through the village that Tenten's idea of 'toys' are her sharp, metallic tools).

"Your version," Tenten assures her, though she grins again. "But trust me, I've had experience with these too."

"What kind of experience?" Sakura is the next to pipe up. None of the girls have attended a pyjama party such as this, and all are just as curious as to what Tenten has in store for them.

Tenten winks at her. "Intimate experience. They're mostly for use either by yourself, or with a partner."

And she bites into her thumb, drawing blood, before pressing her palm onto the first seal.

A bright pink toy poofs into existence, and Tenten tosses it into the air, catching it deftly. It is a little palm-sized object, round at the base, with its other end extending into two points, like short rabbit ears. "The first thing I'll introduce is the rabbit vibe."

She holds it up to the girls crowded around her, and encourages them to touch its velvety, firm ears. When they've all done so, Tenten flicks the switch, and the silicone rabbit ears begin to vibrate, lightly, making a soft buzzing noise as it does.

Tenten passes the rabbit vibe around then. "I find that most handy when your bed buddy is out of town on a mission," she tells the girls. "See, the rabbit ears form a V shape, which fits snugly around your womanly bits, if you know what I'm talking about..."

Ino and Sakura grin at each other. Hinata turns red immediately. She did not expect the pyjama party to be about this. Beside her, Temari looks doubtfully at the toy, and holds it away from herself to examine it. "I'd satisfy myself just as well with my fingers," she states. "What's the point of getting this?"

Tenten grins then. "Ahhh, see, it doesn't quite feel the same when you're not the one doing the touching - I'm sure you know that. The rabbit ears have exquisite vibrations, a little different from the bullet vibe, which tends to be stronger-"

She presses her palm into the next seal, and holds up the silver bullet that the scroll surrenders. Tenten turns this on, and passes it around, because the strength of the bullet vibe speaks for itself. "It's sleek and tiny, and pretty damn discreet if you ask me," she adds.

Hinata flushes a deeper red. Ino's eyes bug out, and Temari regards this new toy with interest.

"Well, between Neji and I, we prefer the rabbit ears more," Tenten mentions casually, and all four pairs of eyes lock onto her.

"N-Neji-_nii_?" Hinata squeaks.

Ino smirks at her. "I didn't think Neji was the type to allow toys in the bedroom."

Temari lifts an eyebrow. "That effeminate guy with the long hair? He's your lover?"

Tenten smiles to herself. "He more than proves himself in bed. These are just supplementary materials."

Hinata looks as though she's about to faint (and Tenten feels a little sorry for her). Tenten collects the vibes and sets them aside, moving on to her third product for the night.

"Fluffy handcuffs," she says, holding a pair of black restraints up. "I bet you'd love for Naruto to use them on you, Hinata," Tenten adds, and the poor girl wavers in her seat. The other females grin.

"Yeah, combine that with the rabbit vibe," Ino suggests, waggling her eyebrows. Hinata gulps.

"And a blindfold," Sakura adds, smiling mischievously. "Your forehead protector works fine."

"Have any of you tried that?" Tenten asks, curious. "That is, being tied up?"

"No way," Temari growls. "I'm not giving Shikamaru the upper hand. _I_ tie him up."

Everyone is looking at the Suna kunoichi now, mostly in awe.

"Neji wouldn't let me," Tenten mutters ruefully, though a grin spreads across her lips. "Doesn't hurt to try again though."

"Hinata, you totally should tie Naruto up!" Sakura giggles, and the rest of them share a grin at the mental imagery she conjures.

"Yeah, I would buy you those restraints if you promise to," Ino offers, and Tenten lights up at the potential sale. Hinata stares at her, wide-eyed, and finally nods. Ino cheers.

"Anyway, if you girls ever want something a little more of an eyeful than that... There are always these," Tenten continues, unsealing a realistic-looking dildo, and a metal toy, that almost looks like a cylindrical sculpture with various ridges, but not quite. Hinata gasps. Ino squeals, and Temari eyes them with a smirk.

Sakura is the first to grab the dildo. "This will be helpful while Sasuke is still gone," she muses thoughtfully, her cheeks flushed. Ino grins and nudges her.

"I guess you can use them anally as well," Temari thinks aloud, turning the metal toy around in her hands. (That is the most expensive toy Tenten carries, so she doesn't expect that any of them would really purchase that.)

"You can use them any way you want," Tenten assures her, "Though don't try to bend them in two, of course."

"Have you tried them?" Ino questions, waving the dildo at her.

Tenten grins. "Neji absolutely loves watching me with the metal one... He tends to get a little envious of the flesh-colored one though."

Temari snorts; Hinata continues to blush, and Ino giggles.

"So... Is he as big as either of these?" Ino probes slyly, and Tenten flushes.

"That's private information!" she tells Ino. (Yes, he is, but Neji probably wouldn't want them knowing- Actually, he wouldn't mind.) "Don't you dare read my mind for it, Ino."

"Of course I wouldn't," Ino grins, and takes the flesh-colored dildo back from Sakura. "This can't beat a real man though."

"But what if he's away on missions?" Tenten presses, innocently, and unseals her sixth and final product for tonight. "I have a do-it-yourself kit here, that'll allow you to make a replica of the guy of your choice, so he'll be with you even when he's away." She winks.

The kit is passed around from one woman to another, and Temari is the first to ask, "Does it actually work?"

"Yes, it does!" Tenten exclaims. "It might be a little uncomfortable for him at first, since you'd have to make a cast of him, before you can make the mold... We've done it, it's not too bad."

"Wow, I didn't think you and Neji were so adventurous, Tenten," Sakura says with stark admiration. Tenten blushes and grins.

"Well, I have Neji to thank for it," Tenten says modestly, and Hinata winces, because she doesn't need to hear about her cousin in such detail. If only Neji knew she was talking about their sex life so explicitly. "So, girls, are you interested in buying any of these toys?"

Ino is the first of them to move foward, and Tenten begins to plot ways to restrain a certain Hyuuga Neji with her fluffy handcuffs.

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><p><em>Neji in fluffy handcuffs?! ;)<em>


	9. The Stories We Write

_Happy Monday everyone! Just wanted to share this - written in response to a Tumblr request. This was actually more painful to write than Like the Sun Faces the Moon (oneshot, the third part to the Obon series, if you haven't seen it yet). Both stories took me a while to get over though. :o_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me._

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><p><em><strong>The Stories We Write<strong>_

**i.**

The war begins in the shadow of a thousand hurried goodbyes, in the days following a flurry of desperate physical connections, forged on the belief that many will not live to see the dawn of a new beginning.

Team Gai shares a last dinner on the evening before they are due to set off with their separate divisions; that night, as Lee and Gai wave goodbye from the end of the street, Tenten turns to Neji, meeting his gaze with a solemn determination that isn't new to him.

The words that leave her lips, however, are ones that he's never expected to hear from her, but war is upon them, and Neji finds that he isn't surprised by much anymore.

_I want you to see me as I am,_ she tells him, _just this once, before it begins._

Tenten is braver than even him, for suggesting what he has never dared to.

In her apartment that night, silvery moonlight dances across her bare skin as she slips out of her clothes, and Neji does not look away.

**I.**

The war tears through countless lives like a hurricane sweeps villages out of existence. Tenten counts her blessings at the end of every day that she doesn't receive bad news about her team - her family.

And she continues to fight, to deplete her energy and weapons, until the day Neji leaves her behind, and then some.

_My only regret is that there wasn't more to us before this,_ he told her that night. Tenten will never forget the way the moonlight glinted in his eyes, beautiful depths of lilac that have always chained him to the beliefs of his clan.

She doesn't cry when he slips away from the mortal world, between her fingers.

**II. **

A month after the war begins, it ends, and Tenten is so relieved at the sight of Neji and Gai and Lee in her dream that it feels as if a part of her has been ripped out all over again when she finds herself back on the battlefield, Gai almost burnt to a crisp, and Neji - her heart - lost somewhere far behind, buried in the rubble.

Tenten wears the faded touch of his lips on her forehead like a war scar, except it hurts deep in her chest instead, and she covers it up with her forehead protector, a momento so important that she hides it from the rest of the world.

The reality of his departure doesn't quite sink in - she lives in a daze - and Tenten feels herself falling ill for it, two weeks after the war ends.

Lee finds her by a clump of bushes one day, clutching at her belly, the contents of her stomach emptied in a gory mess on the ground. He drags her to Sakura, and she doesn't protest.

There is a long, uncomfortable silence while she waits in the makeshift hospital room, with Lee by her side, holding her hand. The green glow eventually fades from Sakura's palms; Lee looks anxiously to her for a prognosis, but Sakura holds only Tenten in her gaze.

Tenten learns that she is pregnant in a hospital full of crying babies and rushed, low voices.

She finds that she cannot breathe, that there is moisture on her cheeks but she doesn't remember crying.

The news tears a new gash in her chest; she draws a deep, shuddering breath. Lee pulls her into a big, bone-crushing hug and all she can think about is Neji, Neji, Neji-

The way his gaze smoothed over her newly-bare form (the first thing he did after that was to press his lips to hers)-

The heat of his breath in her ear as he leaned close to her-

Lee is sobbing hard; Tenten holds a tentative hand to her belly, and the caged, buried emotions rip from her gut like a storm unleashed.

Sakura leaves them to their grief in the privacy of the room, but all Tenten thinks about is how Neji has left part of himself behind, and how he's abandoned her - and their child - to fate.

**III.**

Lee and Gai visit her makeshift quarters a few days later, in the midst of her bargaining with Neji's ghost, who never seems to answer her.

It is only then that Tenten realizes her life is no longer only hers - it is hers, the child's and Neji's, rolled into one.

She pulls her remaining teammates into a tight hug, pronounces them the godfathers of her unborn child - the part of Neji that is still alive.

She will be brave.

**ii.**

_You never cease to amaze me,_ he tells her quietly, in the shadows of her apartment.

_By stripping?_ she laughs, pulls away the ribbons that hold her twin buns together.

Neji is silent for a moment, when the curls of her hair fall onto her bare shoulders, brushing her clavicles. He takes his time lifting his eyes to hers, and her breath catches when she reads the intensity in them.

_By doing what I don't dare to,_ he whispers. His fingers are warm as he reaches up, tangling them in her hair. She leans into his palm, smiles at him.

_You're brave in your own way, Neji,_ she tells him, with a tiny smile. _But I'm sure you know that._

_I want to know more of you,_ is his reply, and Tenten inhales sharply when he presses his lips to her throat.

They write the story of him and her that night, with the moon as their witness.

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><p><em>Probably not continuing this - I don't do kids. ;)<em>


	10. A little bird said

_Will be going on a week-long trip overseas late next week... so there might not be updates then - it'll depend on whether I feel like posting ;) ;)_

_Anyway, have the sequel to "That was just a spar!" ;) Inspired by those who wanted to see more of Hanabi teasing Neji. ;)_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me._

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><p><strong>A Little Bird Said<strong>

"Thank you for sparring with me today, Neji-_nii_," Hinata murmurs, her gaze lowered, over a cup of green tea.

They are seated on the wooden boardwalk edging the buildings belonging to the main house, taking shelter from the intense midday sun. It has been a long morning of sparring, as well as helping Hinata with her new technique, and Neji is quietly glad that his cousin has been showing marked signs of improvement in her abilities.

"It's not a problem," he acknowledges, sipping from his own cup of tea.

"If I may ask... Why are you doing this for me?" Hinata queries, after a long moment of silence. Neji has never really explained his gradual inclination towards participating in clan matters, ever since Hiashi revealed the truth about his father years ago, and Neji apologized to Hinata for his cruel remarks.

Neji leans back slightly, and contemplates the sky. There aren't any birds flying overhead. "I would like to make amends for how I treated you in the past, Hinata-_sama_. Besides, Naruto will need a capable woman by his side when he becomes Hokage."

Never mind that guys-only dinner the other night - Neji hopes fervently that Naruto would have acquired some senses by the time the latter becomes leader of the village (he has no doubt that the blonde will achieve that goal), because he would rather not see Hinata suffer from heartbreak over the person she's been watching quietly for so many years.

Hinata blushes, lightly, and dips her chin further yet. "I will do my best," she vows.

"So, what're you going to do about the capable woman by _your _side, Neji-_nii_?" Hanabi interrupts, landing lightly on her feet in front of them. Neji blinks. He did not notice her presence - maybe she's got better at hiding herself, or maybe he was distracted by Hinata's question. Either way, Neji is disappointed in himself for having his attention slip.

"What capable woman?" he asks, cautious.

Hanabi lifts her eyebrows, and steps forward with a smirk. "You know... Tenten. Your teammate? The girl you've been hanging around with for about..." Hanabi counts off her fingers. "Six years, now?"

"There's nothing for me to do about her," he tells her, shortly. "She is a capable _shinobi_ in every right."

Hanabi rolls her eyes, and Hinata inches away, sensing the discord her sister is about to sow. "That's not what I meant, Neji," Hanabi replies with a grin.

The pieces click into place in his mind, and Neji is getting to his feet and walking away before he knows it. Whatever his younger cousin has in mind for this conversation, he isn't about to participate in it. "There is nothing to discuss, is there?"

"Oh yes, there is," Hanabi grins. "We know you like her."

Neji pauses.

"'_We_'?" he repeats, turning to give them a sidelong glance. Hanabi motions between Hinata and herself. He looks accusingly at Hinata, indignant, and Hinata flushes, pressing her fingers together.

"Y-you are most aware of what you feel, Neji-_nii_," she stutters, embarrassed, and Neji loathes to admit that he's experiencing that same mortification, with his cousins bringing his romantic interests to light. First Naruto and Lee, and now this?

"None of this has anything to do with you," he tells them stiffly, looking away. What he feels for Tenten is intangible - there are no words for it, only thick emotion. And Tenten needs to know none of it. Perhaps this is a phase he'll grow out of, but he doesn't think so. She's more important to him than he cares to admit.

"Oh, but it does," Hanabi says, tauntingly. She wags her finger at him. "We happen to have some... inside information."

Neji freezes, and fixes her with a stare from the corner of his eye. There isn't any point in denying his feelings towards Tenten before his cousins. "What inside information are you talking about?"

"Well..." Hanabi grins, and skips over to him. "A little bird told me that you'd like to sleep with Tenten."

He thinks he might explode right then. When Neji finally manages to get his anger beneath control, he asks, tightly, "And who might that little bird be?"

There are five people he's going to be hunting down tonight, to be skinned alive and roasted on a spit.

Hinata flushes and shrinks away, and Neji's attention anchors onto her. "Well?"

"I- I was speaking with Naruto-_kun_ yesterday," Hinata eventually reveals. "He- He wondered how Tenten-_san_ would react if she knew."

All the blood drains away from Neji's face then, because he can just see Naruto telling Tenten, and- Oh, heavens. Tenten would skewer him alive if she found out. He doesn't wait for a response from either of his cousins, merely spinning on his heel and leaping onto the rooftops, to locate Tenten at once.

"Oh, no," Hinata whispers, as they watch his retreating back. "I think he might be too late as it is."

* * *

><p><em>Neji... You should have known better than this. ;)<em>


	11. Herring Soba for the Uninitiated

_Written on the plane for _Hyperphonic_, who has been posting super-adorable domestic NejiTen fic. Go read if you haven't already. ;)_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me._

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><p><strong>Herring Soba for the Uninitiated<strong>

Tenten discovers Neji's fondness of herring soba quite by accident.

They are thirteen and training for long hours each day, with little break between spars for lunches. (Breakfast is a light meal before they leave home, and dinner occurs only after they've broken from training each day.)

Each member of Team Gai brings his (or her) own bento - Neji's is prepared by the maids in the Hyuuga kitchen (typically sushi rice and some meat), while Lee's and Gai's are some concoction of green or other. Tenten experiments the most in the kitchen, resulting in bento meals that end up delicious, awful, or somewhere in between.

Today, she has an assortment of bowls - one each for cooked soba, soup, and pieces of herring that she got at a discount the day before. Neji looks warily at her as she lays the various bowls out, humming. (He remembers far too well the pumpkin _everything_ the week before - pumpkin cakes, fried pumpkin pieces, pumpkin tempura, pumpkin sushi... It had been enough to make him lose his appetite.)

"Want some, Neji?" Tenten splits the noodles into a couple of bowls (Lee and Gai are somewhere around the village) and tops them off with marinated slices of fish, ladling soup into each bowl at the end. "I made some extra for you."

He looks warily at the noodles, which are lukewarm and don't have a distinctive scent to hint at their edibility. Tenten tries the food first (as she often does, when Lee isn't around to be the voluntary guinea pig). The look on her face is one of delight; with no less hesitation, Neji reaches for his bowl, picking a couple strands of noodles up together with a small piece of fish.

It is surprisingly good.

So good, in fact, that he's finished his bowl even before Tenten's eaten half of hers.

He ends up trading his bento for the remnants of her herring soba.

Tenten grins the widest he's ever seen, and she's back the next day with more herring soba yet. (He barely refrains from stuffing his face like the ravenous homeless his uncle frowns upon.)

(Neji almost falls into a food-induced coma after.)

When Tenten offers to teach him to cook his beloved herring soba a couple of weeks later, he readily accepts (though he puts his foot down at having to wear a fluorescent pink apron during her lessons).

* * *

><p><em>Yes, Neji and his herring soba. ;) might update f2.8 sometime soon. ;)_


	12. A million times awkward

_This has been a long time coming - it's the sequel to That was just a spar! and A little bird said. ;) Also, have a new poll on my profile page!_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me._

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><p><strong>A Million Times Awkward<strong>

"What did you just say?" Tenten all but yells at Naruto, and pins him to a tree with several _kunai_, including one uncomfortably close to his groin.

Naruto gulps. Perhaps this wasn't such a great idea, after all. He shouts back at her, "Hey! Hey! Cut it out! I swear that was what Neji told us!"

Tenten narrows her eyes, and approaches him with a short sword, its blade glinting dangerously. "Repeat what he said."

"H-He said, '_I will marry Tenten, I will bed Tenten, and I will kill every single one of you if she gets wind of this,_'" the blonde echoes nervously, eyeing the weapons that hold him to the tree. "I swear that's the truth!"

She surveys him quietly, hazel eyes glittering, and Naruto has time to fear for his life (a silent woman is a lethal one). The expression on Tenten's face molds into one of decisiveness; she approaches him, pulling her knives free. He slides down the tree, rough bark catching at his clothes, and stares warily at all the weapons she now has on her.

"Find Neji and tell him to meet me here," Tenten orders, waving a _kunai_ at him.

Naruto swallows hard, and hightails it out of there. He'll have to find a way to hide from Neji's fury (because there is no doubt that he's just got Bushy Brows and the rest into _huge trouble_) - but first, he needs to locate the Hyuuga prodigy.

At least he isn't the one having to face off with Tenten, though.

* * *

><p>Neji near collides with Naruto, who is hurtling away from Team Gai's training grounds at full speed. He spins on his ankle and twists away, grabbing the blonde by his collar. "What have you told Tenten?" he growls.<p>

Naruto has the decency to look sheepish. "I, um, I told her that you're interested in her?"

He glares, and tightens his grip on Naruto's clothes, until the latter further reveals, "She wants to see you at the training grounds, Neji!"

There is a sinking feeling at the pit of his stomach. "Don't tell me you told her what I said the other night, during dinner."

Naruto squirms, blue eyes looking at everywhere but him. "Uhh, maybe I did."

Neji rides the wave of anger that surges in his chest, and flings Naruto aside. Trust him to leak the one secret of his that Tenten absolutely cannot know. "I'll be back for you later," he snarls, fixing Naruto with a glare, and the blonde tenses in fright.

But there is nothing he can do now, short of turning back time, so Neji settles for the next best alternative - damage control.

* * *

><p>"What the hell were you thinking?" Tenten screeches, and metal rains down on him the second he steps onto their training grounds.<p>

On instinct, Neji spins into his _kaiten_, to deflect her projectiles, though it is long minutes before she stops and allows him a breather. Neji straightens, and looks for her, cringing inwardly when she stalks towards him, chain and sickle in her hands.

"I can explain," he volunteers.

"Of all things - you had to tell everyone but me that you wanted to sleep with me? What kind of man are you?" Tenten yells, red in the face, holding her weapon threateningly between them. "To top it off, how could you just announce that you'll be marrying me? I wasn't even consulted in the first place! I thought you had more sense than that, you presumptuous jerk!"

Neji stills, feeling a million times more awkward than he has in his entire life. Maybe he can _kaiten_ a hole in the ground and bury himself there.

No, Hyuuga don't hide.

Tenten is three feet away from him, and coming closer yet. Neji briefly wonders if he should back away, because he's in no position to defend himself from her strikes, really - he deserves every single one of them (and he will pass them forward to Naruto with ten times their intensity).

"Tenten!" he begins, a little nervous. (Vaguely, Neji acknowledges that the fire in her eyes is very attractive, that he is proud of how fierce and dangerous she is. Just when it isn't all directed towards him at once.)

"Have more chauvinistic statements to make, do you?" she snaps, glaring at him. Her fingers tighten around the handle of her sickle. "To think I trusted you to be the gentleman I thought you were-"

"It was a game - I was coerced into it!" Neji retorts with a frown. "I would not have said anything otherwise!"

"But you'll think it anyway?" Tenten pauses a step away from him, hazel eyes boring into his, rage rolling off her form in waves. Neji gulps. "You view me as a sex object?"

He pales. "No, that was not what I meant-"

"What did you mean, then?" Tenten growls, tapping the blunt edge of the sickle into his chest, pressing her face close to his. "I thought you, of all people, would be able to keep it in your pants-"

Intense heat washes over his face. "I am very capable of doing that," Neji sputters. "Not once have I made any advances on you-"

-Save for the time he tried to kiss her-

-Or the time her clothed bottom bumped into his thigh when she was bent over and he looked a little longer than he should have-

-Or the one time, just once, he caved and peeked at her bare chest in the women's baths-

Tenten calms down then, and surveys him shrewdly, her cheeks still flushed. And in a lower tone, she asks the one question he dreads more than any other, "Do you really find me attractive, Hyuuga Neji?"

Neji swallows. That is a double-edged sword, prepared to slice him to shreds whichever answer he might give. Unfortunately, the Byakugan doesn't allow him to read her mind, and he wishes he knew what she thinks of him. He parts his lips, and swallows again. He can't lie, not to her.

"I find you attractive," he admits, and turns away quickly, to leave the clearing. Neji would much rather endure a hundred spars, back-to-back, than witness Tenten judging him for his interest. He doesn't want it to change the dynamics between them.

The sickle plants itself right where he's about to step, and Neji stills, looking carefully back at Tenten. Her eyes are blazing, and she's stalking over to him, grabbing him by the the front of his robes. "You're not attracted enough that you can't keep it in your pants," she mutters, looking accusingly at him.

What in hell is he supposed to say to that?

"I have a great amount of self-control," Neji finally answers, looking sourly at her. "And I do not wish to ruin our relationship as friends."

"I want to see how attracted you are to me," Tenten tells him, with all the solemnity in the world, and Neji feels his mouth go dry.

"What do you mean?" he asks, even when he has a little inkling of what she's angling for. The thought of her body against his entices from the edges of his imagination.

"You know what I mean," Tenten says, her eyes narrowed, "If you're any bit of a man, Neji, you'll have an idea."

He stares at her for a long moment, barely breathing. "This isn't a proper conversation for us to be having, Tenten."

"Why? Because we're teammates, and that's all we are?" she challenges, her eyes glinting. "I swear that this isn't going to change things between me and you."

Neji remains studying her for a while - the promise of tasting her, feeling her, is a little too much to bear - and he steps forward, catching her chin and slanting his lips over hers.

* * *

><p>They end up a little ways beyond the grassy edge of the training grounds some time later, Neji on his back, Tenten grinding shamelessly against the hard length in his pants, and it is all he can do to keep himself from moaning. He's grabbing at her thigh, thrusting at her, and her breast feels exquisite against the palm he's slid up her shirt-<p>

He thumbs a pebbled nipple; Tenten gasps against his lips, reaching down and fumbling with the ties of his trousers. Neji tenses when she wraps a hand around him, tugging at him - he isn't thinking anymore, only feeling (and at this rate, nothing is going to be remaining in his pants)-

"Gai-_sensei_! I'm so excited about the new technique you'll be teaching me!" Lee crows loudly, somewhere behind Neji's favorite oak.

They break apart in horror. Tenten snatches her hands away from Neji, and they're on their feet in seconds, straightening their clothes and wiping at their lips. (Neji notices that there's a little bruise starting to form at the base of her throat.)

"It's a pity that Neji and Tenten aren't here, but I'm sure that they'll be excited to learn-"

He signals for her to leave, and Tenten nods, her eyes still wide with shock. Naruto's beating will come later - much later - but for now, Neji is quite content to follow Tenten back to her apartment, to finish what they've started.

* * *

><p><em>I don't know how they keep ending up in situations like that, but okay ;)<em>


	13. Oh, Life

_Inspired by a forum post on the internet about after-sex hair. ;) This also reminds me a lot of Hyperphonic's haircut vignette - read it if you haven't. ;)_

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me._

* * *

><p><strong>Oh, Life.<strong>

It's one of those days in which Tsunade is in a foul mood, exacerbated by the lack of _shinobi_ for jobs, and her precious bottles of _sake_ being locked up in a glass cabinet by one well-meaning Shizune.

Sakura hurries out of the Hokage tower, in search of the _shinobi_ Tsunade has ordered for this specific mission.

It is a well-known fact that Team Gai always trains at Training Grounds Three, where most people hesitate to enter, at the risk of being pummeled by a hole-digging _kaiten_ or impaled by a horde of weapons. The grounds are unnaturally quiet today though, despite a couple of members of Team Gai being on their days off, and Sakura ventures towards those training grounds tentatively, reluctant to be caught in the midst of a stand-off.

What she does hear gives her some (a lot of) pause.

"We're never doing that again," Neji's low baritone resounds in the woods. "My hair always gets hopelessly tangled. And it's worse today, with _dirt_ in it."

Sakura frowns at the imagery, and stops walking, all the better to assess the situation.

"Well, I've _told_ you to put it up in a braid, but you refused," comes Tenten's reply.

"It's full of dirt now," Neji tells her accusingly.

"If you didn't enjoy being under me so much-"

"You make me sound feminine," Neji snaps.

Sakura flushes, frozen to her spot in the forest. Surely she isn't supposed to listen in on this conversation in particular. Neji likes being-?

"As I was saying," Tenten continues, ignoring Neji, "You were the one to come feel me up first-"

"I was not!" Neji exhales indignantly. "You were all hands, surely you could've _not_ tossed my robes away and laid it on the ground so my hair-"

"Oh _shut up_ about your hair, Neji!"

"Are you untangling it, or not?"

A short pause. They're sleeping together? Sakura winces at the images filling her mind, and doesn't quite dare step onto the training grounds, for fear that Neji and Tenten are not quite as clothed as she hopes they are.

"I... can't seem to work through all the soil in here," Tenten mutters. "Some of it might have to be cut off."

Another pause.

"We're never doing this on the training grounds again," Neji grumbles.

"Well, if you put your hair up in buns like I do-"

"And your hair fares that much better?" Arrogantly, enviously.

"Try it," Tenten challenges. "I'll even let you be on top this time."

Sakura grimaces. Surely not right now-

"Right now?" Neji asks, the one question Sakura dreads. If she doesn't stop them immediately, Tsunade is going to throw one hell of a fit, and Sakura is going to be the one getting in trouble-

"Guys!" she shouts, bursting onto the training grounds, before Neji and Tenten can do anything worse. It is with sheer relief that she discovers them clothed, albeit with dusty outfits. There's an ugly, soil-covered carpet of hair on the back of Neji's head. "Um, sorry to interrupt-"

Neji's renowned Hyuuga glare is scorching giant holes into her. Her cheeks burn.

"Well, um, Tsunade-_sama_ requires both of you to report immediately for a mission," she explains.

Neji angles a sour glance at his teammate. "I can't go in this state."

Tenten sighs. "Come on, I'll trim that mess off," she assures him. To Sakura, she smiles apologetically, and waves with a kunai. "We'll be there soon enough, sorry about that."

"Thanks." Sakura nods and heads back out of the training grounds, wondering what kind of crazy technique Tenten is using, for Neji's seemingly knot-resistant hair to be ground into such a mess.

Then again, maybe she really does not want to know. Sakura shudders, and continues on her way.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Neji and Tenten sure crack me up a lot ;)_


	14. Gardening

_The husband bought bok choy seeds for us for Christmas. Hence, this was born. ;) Written on Christmas night._

_Naruto and its characters do not belong to me._

* * *

><p><strong>Gardening<strong>

"Here. Merry Christmas." Like the way he is prone to act in his everyday circumstances, Neji's gesture is direct; he holds the discreetly-wrapped gift out to her, with just enough distance between them that they aren't too close, but it doesn't feel as if they're new teammates, either.

"Thanks." Tenten beams at him, receiving the gift with delight. The box is strangely lightweight - it isn't a weapon, she immediately deduces, and her expression falters slightly, to Neji's concern.

"I was hoping you'd like it," he explains, uncertainly.

"What is it?" Tenten looks between him and the box, her forehead furrowed. What could he possibly think she'd like, that isn't sharp and metallic? It sounds like little beads when she shakes the gift.

"Open it," he says plainly, so Tenten does.

It's a packet of vegetable seeds, she discovers. Spinach. Tenten licks her lips, blinks a couple of times, and looks up at him. "Neji, I don't have a garden," she informs him awkwardly. He knows that, right?

It appears as if Neji's expected her response, because he shrugs and replies, "I'll get you some pots and soil in early spring."

"Do you even do gardening?" The frown on her forehead deepens. "I don't want to kill these plants."

(It feels as if there are enough seeds in the packet to try at least ten times, though.)

"No," he replies, looking a little uncomfortable. "But I saw the seeds and they... reminded me of your-" (he swallows) "-youthfulness."

Tenten bursts out laughing and forgives him immediately. "All right, but you'll have to promise to help me with them when spring arrives."

Neji gives her a solemn nod.

* * *

><p>"It says here to plant them in early spring," Tenten informs him a few weeks later, while he's visiting her apartment between missions. She's scrutinizing the instructions on the seed packet again.<p>

"I'll get you the soil and pots."

"It's like raising children, isn't it?" Tenten glances at him and beams, and Neji looks away, his cheeks faintly pink. She hides a smile.

He leaves her apartment, and returns soon after with a rectangular planter, and a bag of soil.

"Have you planted anything in your life?" Tenten asks, scrutinizing her best friend.

"No."

(She didn't think so.)

Neji reads the instructions on the seed packet himself, and sets the pot on her kitchen window, that faces east.

"Well, I asked Ino, and she said to pack the soil loosely, and water after we plant the seeds," Tenten recalls, placing fingers on his wrist to help direct the soil into the planter.

She puts just one seed into each hole they've dug - six seeds in total, for the two-foot planter. There should be enough for ten rounds of this, at least. With _senbon_, she punches holes into a plastic cup, and waters the seeds with that.

"I hope they'll sprout soon," she muses.

"Plants grow best when you aren't breathing constantly over them," Neji replies, and Tenten looks suspiciously at him.

"How did you know that?" she questions.

It's Neji's turn to answer, with a smirk, "I've done my research."

Tenten nudges him playfully in the side. "You're sure invested in these seeds."

He looks away, and doesn't reply for moments. "I don't want to see them go to waste."

* * *

><p>All six seeds have sprouted when Tenten brings Neji back to her apartment. She ushers him to the kitchen, shows him the seedlings with some measure of pride. "They've sprouted!"<p>

"So I see," he replies dryly, and his smirk doesn't fall away when Tenten elbows him.

"But the reason I asked you here is because I'll be away on a mission for three weeks. Water them for me when the soil feels dry, won't you?" She presses her apartment key into his palm, the metal warm from being so close to her body.

He wraps his fingers around the trust she's placing in him. "Sure."

* * *

><p>There are five beautiful, growing plants and one riddled with holes by the time she returns.<p>

"There was a caterpillar," Neji explains apologetically, when he extends the key back to her; Tenten closes his fingers on the key and smiles.

"Keep the key - I might need your help with the plants again," she tells him. "Don't let any more caterpillars in, though."

Neji raises an eyebrow at that, but doesn't question her decision. He slips the key back into his pocket, so it clinks with his key to the Hyuuga compounds.

* * *

><p>Tenten returns from a mission that's dragged past its expected completion date, to find Neji in her kitchen, cooking some herring <em>soba<em>. He looks up at her when she slips into the kitchen, nose lifted in search of the tempting scent.

"Smells good," she tells him, a smile playing on her lips. "I didn't know you could cook."

"There are things you don't know about me," he informs her, almost primly, turning back to the pot on her stove.

"Oh? Like what?" Tenten nudges him, and leans in, pressing her nose to his shoulder. Neji stiffens. "You smell like herring soba."

"Really." He returns his stare to the broth.

The spinach plants are reaching maturity - she's plucked the caterpillar-damaged leaves off the one plant, and all six are doing beautifully now, under Neji's expert care.

Tenten presses a finger into the soil, determines that they're in need of water, and dispenses some into the planter. "You'd make a good husband," she comments.

Neji's ebony eyebrows make their way up his forehead. He slants a look at her, and pulls a couple of bowls out, dispensing noodles, soup and fish. "What makes you say that?"

"Because. You cook. You grow plants. You clean." Tenten looks into the sink, and finds no dirty dishes.

"You make me sound like a servant," he mutters, but sets the bowls on her kitchen table anyway, complete with chopsticks. The portions are a little smaller than what he usually eats - he wasn't expecting her to be back.

"I didn't mean to suggest that. How long have you been living in my apartment?" Tenten seats herself across from him, tucking into the soup. "Mm, this is good."

He chews on the noodles for the longest time. "A week."

She looks up at him in surprise. "Since the day I was due back?"

Neji shrugs awkwardly. "I figured I'd keep watch on the spinach. They'll get bitter soon after maturing."

Tenten grins then, slyly. "You like living here, don't you?"

He meets her gaze for a heartbeat, then looks away. "It's... more liberating than living at the compounds."

"Are you going to stay tonight, then?" She holds her breath, and looks at the spinach instead, tall green stalks testament to the care they've both given the plants.

"It's not proper." Neji finishes his noodles, and rinses his bowl at the sink.

"You like it here, though. Afraid that I'd be a bad housemate?" Tenten slurps the rest of her noodles, and joins him at the sink, rinsing her bowl when he's done.

"It's not that," he mumbles. "Like I said, it's not proper for us to... share a living space."

"But we've known each other for, what? Eight years?" Tenten sets her bowl next to his, drying her hands off on a hand towel. "If you feel more comfortable here than at the compounds, why not?"

"Because we're-" Neji pauses, turning to look at her, his eyebrows drawn together.

"Because we're not like this?" Tenten smiles, and steps in close, brushing her lips over his. Neji tenses, but does not back away. "I'd appreciate having you keep an eye on the spinach," she breathes. Her heart thuds loudly in her chest, almost as thunderous as his is. "Have you been sleeping in my bed?"

Neji hesitates, exhales shallowly against her skin. "Yes."

Tenten blushes at that, but maintains her proximity. "I don't mind sharing," she whispers. "Do you?"

"No," he answers, honestly, and finds her hips with his hands, pulling her towards him.

She kisses him again, in front of the plants, and the kitchen window, with moonlight streaming through, and thinks that this is the best Christmas present he's given her yet.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Awwww ;) ;)_


End file.
